Christmas at Cadogan returns in 2020 for another series of socially-distanced concerts perfect for the festive season, featuring choirs, swing orchestras and family events. This year’s highlights include:
- A mixture of live concerts with socially distanced audience and streamed events
- Annual Christmas concert from The Sixteen as well as an 80-minute version of Handel’s Messiah with acclaimed soloists
- The official launch of Britain’s Got Talent winners COLLABRO’s new Christmas album in a concert streamed live from Cadogan Hall
- Jazz and Musical theatre events include Swing into Christmas with The Down for the Count Concert Orchestra; the return of The Definitive Rat Pack; and Stars of the West End who perform modern and classic Christmas music; a festive evening presented by the Hampstead Jazz Club
- New Year traditions with Rainer Hersh’s 9-piece orchestra and I Fagiolini and a Viennese Spectacular with London Concertante
- The world premiere of Philip Mackenzie’s new adaptation of The Gruffalo for narrator and orchestra and The Snowman with live orchestral accompaniment by Mozart Symphony Orchestra, perfect for families
- Carols by Candlelight concert on Christmas Eve performed in 18th-century costume
Choirs and Choral Music
Musical theatre choir and Britain’s Got Talent winners COLLABRO begin the festive season with the official launch of their new Christmas album COLLABRO – Christmas is Here, featuring much-loved classics. The live concert will be streamed for a digital audience, and VIP tickets are available for a Zoom Meet & Greet (Saturday 28 November, 5pm; streamed).
English Chamber Orchestra perform an 80-minute version of Handel’s Messiah which includes famous sections such as For Unto Us a Child is Born, And the Glory of the Lord, and the Hallelujah chorus. For this the ECO is joined by internationally renowned vocal octet VOCES8 and a stellar line-up of soloists: soprano Carolyn Sampson, countertenor Iestyn Davies, tenor Andrew Staples and bass Matthew Brook (Sunday 6 December, 3pm and 6pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Harry Christophers and The Sixteen return for their annual Christmas concert which, this year, is the culmination of their 5-part series: A Choral Odyssey. The programmes explore sumptuous music and beautiful architecture. The much-loved Christmas concert forms the standalone bonus sixth episode with Christophers and The Sixteen, weaving together six centuries of choral masterpieces including music by Byrd, Lassus, Palestina, Victoria and medieval plainsong, alongside 20th and 21st century works such as Ord’s Adam lay ybounden (Tuesday 15 December, 5pm and 7.30pm; Wednesday 16 December, 5pm and 7.30pm; live with socially distanced audience, also available as a deferred stream online on 23 December, 7:30pm).
Carols by Candlelight returns on Christmas Eve with a programme of seasonal classics including Cullen’s Joy to the World and Handel’s Let the Bright Seraphim alongside carols such as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and O Little Town of Bethlehem. Performed by the Mozart Festival Ensemble and Chorus, with soprano Harriet Eyley and conductor Steven Devine, this concert is staged in full 18th-century costume in an intimate candle-lit style setting. Special guest reader Mark Williams completes the line up with a selection of festive readings (Thursday 24 December, 3pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Jazz and Musical Theatre
The Down for the Count Concert Orchestra presents Swing Into Christmas, featuring the music of Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Nat ‘King’ Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and many more with a luscious 27-piece orchestra evoking the sounds of the great Hollywood recordings (Thursday 17 December, 5pm and 8pm; live with socially distanced audience).
This is followed by Rat Pack At Christmas with The Definitive Rat Pack being accompanied by internationally-renowned 8-piece The Manhattan Swing Orchestra in a condensed evening of festive classics, including White Christmas, Baby It’s Cold Outside, The Christmas Song and Let It Snow, plus all-time favourites including Mack the Knife, That’s Amore, Mr Bojangles and New York, New York. (Saturday 12 December, 5pm and 8pm; live with socially distanced audience).
West End Does: Christmas 2020 is a Christmas extravaganza featuring West End stars Killian Donnelly, Louise Dearman, Oliver Tompsett and Rachel John performing a mix of modern festive songs and classic Christmas carols alongside their West End Band. Special guests to be announced (Sunday 13 December, 3pm and 7pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Hampstead Jazz Club, in association with Jazz FM present a perfectly mixed cocktail of classic jazz with a festive twist from Carroll Thompson, Paul Lee, Jo Harrop and Tara Minton, plus some special guests on the night (Saturday 19 December, 7pm; live with socially distanced audience and a ticketed live stream).
Orchestral events
In Viennese Christmas Spectacular, the UK’s leading chamber orchestra, London Concertante, perform Viennese music including famous waltzes such as the Blue Danube Waltz written by the ‘King of Waltzes’ Johann Strauss II. Other works include Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz and Nutcracker Suite as well as Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 5 (Sunday 27 December, 3:30pm & 7pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Cadogan Hall also bring in the New Year with Rainer Hersch Orkestra who present an evening of orchestral music and stand-up comedy. Comedian and conductor Rainer Hersch’s New Year’s Eve Bash offers musical comedy and wit guaranteed to have audiences rolling in the aisles, performed with his nine-piece orchestra and multi-award winning vocal ensemble I Fagiolini (Thursday 31 December, 3pm and 7pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Family Events
The Gruffalo and The Snowman sees The Mozart Symphony Orchestra perform the live orchestral accompaniment to popular Christmas film The Snowman with 11-year old Alice Mackenzie as guest soloist to sing Walking in the Air. The programme then follows with the world premiere of a new adaptation by Philip Mackenzie of The Gruffalo, re-working Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s book into a piece for narrator and orchestra where each character in the tale is represented by a different instrument of the orchestra. The performance ends with a comical new work based on Kipling’s Just So Stories introducing children to the sounds of an orchestra (Monday 21 December, 1pm, 3.30pm and 6pm; Tuesday 22 December, 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm; live with socially distanced audience).
Safety at Cadogan Hall
Cadogan Hall is closely following the government’s updates, live events after 2 December will continue in line with the tier system and social-distancing guidelines.
All ticket purchases are fully protected, and bookers are entitled to an exchange, credit voucher, or refund for the full value of their ticket(s) in the case of a rescheduled or cancelled event. This is also true if they are unable to attend because you have experienced symptoms of COVID or local restrictions mean that they are unable to travel to the event they have booked for.
Tickets available here